Tristan & Iseult Bodel, de Bornelh, Riquier, Joel Cohen, Anne Az�ma (Iseult), Henri Ledroit (Tristan), Ellen Hargis (Brang�ne), Richard Morrisson (Mark), Andrea von Ramm (narr), William Hite (Watchman/Sailor/Monk), The Boston Camerata. Composer: Jehan Bodel, de Dia, Beatriz, Comtessa, Giraut de Bornelh, Performer: Andrea von Ramm, Henri Ledroit, Anne Az�ma, Ellen Hargis, Conductor: Joel Cohen, Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Camerata. What we have here is a Warner Classics reissue of the award-winning 1987 Erato recording (it won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1989) of medieval poems, songs, and music associated with the Tristan and Iseult legends, compiled by Joel Cohen and played by The Boston Camerata. It certainly makes for different and fascinating listening. - John J. Puccio - Classical Candor.

SCARLATTI: SONATAS

LES PECHEURS DE PERLES

Vinyl LP pressing. 2024 release.

On Philippe Jaroussky's new album - dedicated to Schubert - he brings all his elegance, precision and exquisite phrasing to this fabulous repertoire. Accompanist is J�rome Ducros. The album features famous songs such as An Silvia, Du bist die Ruh, Die Forelle, Ave Maria. Opera Today wrote following a Schubert recital from the artists in London's Wigmore Hall: 'Abendstern'... was a masterclass in the art of song which the duo presented with characteristic unassuming eloquence."

An album dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach piano solo, follows Alexandre Tharaud's very original Four Hands project. The protean French pianist brings a programme concentrating on Bach on the piano - in this instance mostly in his own transcriptions such as the Lute Suite BWV 996, the Johannes-Passion BWV 245 and many others. The album also features a few Bach HITS: Sicilienne BWV 1031, the famous Bach/Gounod Ave Maria and the Adagio from the Keyboard Concerto BWV 974, after Alessandro Marcello Adagio.

Songbook is the title of French clarinetist Pierre G�nisson's new album, recorded with pianist Bruno Fontaine, and several surprising guests. Featuring a laid-back mix of repertoire taken from the American Songbook and from French popular repertoire. Terrific lineup of artists includes Monica Bellucci on "I Got You Under My Skin", Lambert Wilson on "My Funny Valentine", Thibaut Garcia on Salvador's "Syracuse" and on "Smile", Youn Sun Nah in "La Javanaise", Kimberose on "What A Wonderful World".

To open the Met's 2017-18 season, powerhouse soprano Sondra Radvanovsky tackled one of opera's most fearsome roles, the title druid priestess of Bellini's Norma, who wrestles with love and betrayal before making the ultimate sacrifice on a funeral pyre. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato sang Norma's friend and rival, Adalgisa, in Sir David McVicar's evocative production. To open the Met's 2017-18 season, powerhouse Bellini: Norma (Met Live Recording).

Vinyl LP pressing. Alexandre Tharaud pays tribute to composers associated with the courts of the French kings Louis XIV, XV and XVI. Lully, Rameau, Charpentier and Franois Couperin stand beside lesser-known masters: d'Anglebert, Forqueray, Royer, Duphly and Balbastre.

Angelic' is a word often used to describe Philippe Jaroussky's voice. The ethereal quality of his countertenor is intrinsic to his roles as both an angel and as a ghost in Only the Sound Remains, a double bill of operas by the distinguished Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, whose first opera L'Amour de loin has captivated audiences at such venues as the Salzburg Festival, Paris's Th��tre du Ch�telet, London's English National Opera and New York's Metropolitan Opera. Saariaho composed Only the Sound Remains with Jaroussky in mind. "I've been to many concerts that he's given in Paris and I love his voice and the way he sings," she told the Dutch website Cultuurpers when the opera received it's premiere in Spring 2016 at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, where this DVD and Blu-ray were recorded. She and Jaroussky worked together as she wrote the score, ensuring that it was tailor-made for his talents. The production - by the celebrated American director Peter Sellars, who declared that "Philippe Jaroussky sings like nobody else on the planet" - was subsequently seen in Helsinki (April 2017) and reaches Paris, again with Philippe Jaroussky, in early 2018. "Only theSound Remains is a profound and moving exploration of mortality and consciousness," wrote Classical Voice North America, "The score [conducted by Andr� de Ridder, who has wide-ranging credentials in contemporary music] is a swirl of choral and instrumental colors layered over a subtle electronic foundation withantiphonal effects. Structured like a series of interlocking boxes and punctuated bydelicate word-painting, this opera marks a breakthrough in Saariaho's ability to bring astory to life, with vividly imagined details that focus on sensory experience and hint atthe inner emotions of the characters." The Financial Times described the opera in detail: "The ending of Kaija Saariaho's new double bill for the Netherlands Opera lives up to it's name. Her subtle and meticulous blend of live electronics with acoustic sound can create curtains and washes of sound, sensual and evocative in ways that have become her trademark.... Tsunemasa (Always Strong) and Hagoromo (Feather Mantle), 14th-century Japanese Noh theatre works brought to the US... in the early 20th century and later pieced together into English approximations by poet Ezra Pound, form the basis of a libretto for an evening of music theatre co-conceived by Saariaho and director Peter Sellars. Both works... are scored for small ensemble with two singers - baritone and countertenor. Both narrate encounters with the supernatural.... Saariaho uses the Finnish zither-like kantele rather than a Japanese koto in her ensemble, and western flutes in place of the shakuhachi [a Japanese flute], but the Japanese sound-world is a clear source of reference, with pentatonic scales and onomatopoeic percussion deployed generously. Baritone Davone Tines and countertenor Philippe Jaroussky are perfect as the earth/spirit counterparts of the two pieces (ghost and priest for the first opera, fisherman and angel for the second), Tines with his earthy, virile warmth, Jaroussky with his ethereal purity, the music tailored for these two exceptional voices. Sellars, as always, sets out with consummate sincerity and solid stagecraft to convey a highly spiritual message... It is meticulously crafted and superbly performed. Saariaho is in fine form." Philippe Jaroussky's performance was summed up by France's Op�ra magazine: "In Hagoromo the voice of the French countertenor blossoms with a wondrous freedom and expressivity," while the S�ddeutsche Zeitung wrote that "Philippe Jaroussky is the noblest and most distinctive of countertenors... If he has gained fame as an exponent of virtuosic baroque arias, here

ALCINA (AIX EN PROVENCE)

#LetsBaRock is the new surprising, artistic project by Jakub J�zef Orlinski and Aleksander Debicz, the artists created "cover-versions" of baroque pieces, anchoring them in the 21st century. Aleksander Debicz gives an example: "In our version, Baroque pieces sound decidedly modern but retain their character, even if we've shifted some accents. For instance "Oblivion" based on "Oblivion soave" from Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea, remains a sort of lullaby, yet in our version, it has the qualities of a trance-like, dreamlike club track." Repertoire features well-loved pieces from Purcell, Monteverdi, Vivaldi and Handel.

#LetsBaRock is the new surprising, artistic project by Jakub J�zef Orlinski and Aleksander Debicz, the artists created "cover-versions" of baroque pieces, anchoring them in the 21st century. Aleksander Debicz gives an example: "In our version, Baroque pieces sound decidedly modern but retain their character, even if we've shifted some accents. For instance "Oblivion" based on "Oblivion soave" from Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea, remains a sort of lullaby, yet in our version, it has the qualities of a trance-like, dreamlike club track." Repertoire features well-loved pieces from Purcell, Monteverdi, Vivaldi and Handel.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2018 release. Tharaud records Beethoven for the first time! Beethoven's last three sonatas, Nos. 30, 31, 32, composed 1820-22. They are considered some of the most difficult works in the repertoire. The NY Times said "[Alexandre Tharaud] imbued the opening of Beethoven's Sonata No.31 (Op. 110) with a poetic introspection..." Arte broadcast of Alexandre performing Beethoven.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2016 release. One of opera's most outspoken and impassioned personalities, Joyce DiDonato reminds us with her album In War and Peace that music "soothes turmoil, threatens power and the status quo, and gloriously exalts the spirit". Her selection of arias demonstrates how powerfully Baroque opera explores the extremes of human nature - from the tumult of Handel's 'Scenes of Horror, Scenes of Woe' to Purcell's descent into despair, 'Dido's Lament'. Joyce's longtime partners, the spirited Italian Baroque ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro, join her on this unique journey through sublime, challenging music; through chaos transformed by the eternal search for serenity.